Bank clerk accused of stealing $35k from MH370 victims' accounts

Malaysian police have arrested a bank officer and her husband over allegations they stole more than $35,000 from the accounts of four passengers aboard missing flight MH370.

The couple have been held in police custody since Thursday on suspicion of withdrawing 110,643 ringgit ($37,622) from the accounts of two Malaysian and two Chinese MH370 victims, district police chief Zainuddin Ahmad said.

Police are also looking for another suspect, a Pakistani man, who is believed to have received part of the money in his account through an online transfer, he added.

"We believe he is still in the country. But as to the full particulars of the case - it's all still under investigation," Mr Zainuddin said.

He declined to name the bank, where the woman in custody had reportedly worked at for the last 10 years.

The Star daily reported that the four bank accounts were with HSBC and quoted HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd saying in a statement that the matter was referred by the bank to the police, declining further comment.

HSBC officials could not immediately be reached.

The Malaysia Airlines plane lost contact en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 people aboard, including six Australians, and mysteriously disappeared.

The Boeing 777 is believed to have veered off course and have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean but no sign of wreckage has been found thus far.